Ferrari and Hot Wheels Rekindle Their 1/64-Scale Bromance

Yahoo

07-04-2025

On the surface, Mattel's Hot Wheels toy cars share little common ground with the full-size automobiles crafted by Ferrari. With some 22.5 cars produced and sold worldwide each second and more than nine billion examples produced since the brand's inception, Hot Wheels makes automotive dreams come true in 1/64 scale at prices nearly anyone can afford. Ferrari too, trades in fulfilling fantasies, but the bar of entry and financial commitment is vastly higher. By design, it often involves clearing a byzantine and skewed set of hurdles on the path to ownership.
But they do share one common denominator that transcends all social, dimensional, and economic barriers: passion. Both are driven by an insatiable appetite for the automotive experience, both in the physical realm and the almost ethereal involvement that can elevate the human condition, even if just for a moment.
If that sounds a bit dramatic, well, it is. But for Ferrari, which is notoriously protective of its physical and intellectual properties, hooking up with Hot Wheels is a pretty big deal. But now that it's official, we've got a look at the first fruit of their new alliance, the first Ferrari Hot Wheels to hit the scene since 2015.
Hot Wheels says the effort to rekindle the relationship began casually in house about five years ago but conversations with Ferrari started about two years ago. As the movement gathered steam, inquiries were made, design proposals were cataloged, and eventually, the contracts were inked. As you'd expect, specific details of the agreement remain under wraps.
The new collection includes the Ferrari Heritage Set, a box set issued to commemorate the reunification of the brands, which is available only from MattelCreations.com; a selection of Premium-series vehicles which feature elevated craftsmanship and detail; and, of course, a variety of core models that offer maximum bang for the buck.
Aimed toward the collector market and celebrating the reunification of Hot Wheels and Ferrari, the Heritage Set includes a Ferrari 312P and a Ferrari 499P Modificata. The 312P, of course, is the first Ferrari model ever to be re-created as a genuine 1/64-scale Hot Wheels car. Originally released in Hot Wheels form back in 1969, the re-creation features a silver-plate red Spectraflame paint finish and an accurate interpretation of Redline wheels which Hot Wheels has dubbed Neo-Classics.
The 312P is significant not only as the first Ferrari Hot Wheels car, but the model that marked Ferrari's return to sports-car racing after taking 1968 off to protest a rule change regarding engine size. Thus, the 312P hit the track sporting a tiny but kinetic 3.0-liter V-12. Mario Andretti took the pole at the 12 Hours of Sebring and finished second overall with his co-driver.
The 312P is accompanied by the Ferrari 499P with the same exterior finish and 10-spoke Real Riders wheels. The 499P competed and won in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Le Mans Hypercar class, wearing the number 50 in tribute to the 50 years since the maker last fielded a factory-supported sport prototype aiming for an overall win. The Hot Wheels version, however, is a scale replica of the 499P Modificata, a non-competition but track-only version made to celebrate the Le Mans victory.
The set, complete with the designer display case, retails for $100 and is available exclusively at Mattel Creations. The 499P Modificata is also available separately as part of the Premium series.
If the Heritage Set seems a bit too bougie but you'd still like to indulge, the Premium series is the ticket. Hot Wheels designers told us the Premium line, which is a step up from the mass-market cars you see retailing for about a buck, allows them a bit more freedom in terms of graphics, decorations, and parts, but they emphasize that these are genuine Hot Wheels: "These cars are made to do jumps, tricks, stunts, just like Hot Wheels cars should. And that test was a really important feat, so hopefully these check the balance between kid playability and collector appeal."
Hands down, the superstar tag team of the Premium line is the Ferrari 250 GTO & Fiat 642 RN2 Bartoletti Transporter set (pictured above). The 250 GTO is a legend, and its shape is virtually shorthand for Ferrari for Boomer-generation fans. It was limited in production and powered by a 3.0-liter V-12. Examples have traded for over $50 million.
In this Premium set, the 250 GTO's mini-me is paired with a beloved Fiat 642 RN2 Bartoletti transporter to make a combo that's hard to beat. While a Bartoletti transporter with a Ferrari on top was common sight in the era, its high-level of functionality and perfect size made it top choice for Maserati, Shelby, and other race teams when traveling on the continent.
Both vehicles feature Premium full die-cast bodies and chassis. Available at retailers starting in October 2025, the set is $16.99, but the items are available individually as well.
The remainder of the Premium Set is composed of contenders for the greatest Ferraris of all time.
The hit list begins with the Hot Wheels Premium LaFerrari. Representing the peak of the maker's engineering and hybrid technology in road-going vehicles at the time of its launch, the LaFerrari helped usher the brand into a new era. Capable of hitting 60 mph in 2.5 seconds, the 950-hp rear-wheel-drive hypercar set new standards in performance in Car and Driver testing. The LaFerrari Hot Wheels Premium vehicle features a full die-cast body and chassis. It hits retailers in September.
Despite its undeniable performance, the Ferrari F50's arrival was a bit awkward. In addition to its polarizing cab-forward design, it was nearly impossible to purchase one, as its allotment of 55 stateside examples was spoken for long before the factory spooled up for production. And to foil speculating flippers, it carried a very specific buying plan involving a two-year lease before gaining full ownership of the vehicle. Thankfully, getting your hands on the Hot Wheels Premium Ferrari F50 should be much easier when it hits retailers in November.
Much of enduring appeal and success of the Hot Wheels brand can be chalked up to their low price of entry. The mass-market series has long hovered in the sub-two-dollar range; just enough to maintain quality build features and brand respect, but also a helluva deal for a functional scale model toy that can withstand hours of use and abuse. As the Hot Wheels PR department is fond of repeating, "it's the number-one toy in the world."
Just as the 250 GTO is Ferrari to many Boomers, the Ferrari 365 GTB4 Competizione is Ferrari for Gen Xers. Featuring a long hood, a 4.4-liter Colombo V-12 engine, and a fighter-plane-like cockpit bubble, its textbook example of classic design was bolstered by numerous class wins at Le Mans in the 1970s, culminating with its final class at Daytona in 1979, five years after production had ended.
But what really burned the 365 into the collective consciousness of Americans is its presence in popular culture. The transport of choice—albeit not in Competizione trim—of C/D editor Brock Yates and Dan Gurney for the inaugural Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, it also appeared on the cover of a hit LP by the Carpenters, appeared in the movies Gone in Sixty Seconds (the original H.B. Halicki classic, not the remake), The Long Goodbye with Elliot Gould, and A Star is Born with Barbara Streisand. But its million-dollar superstar moment occurred on September 14, 1984, when TV detectives Crockett and Tubbs drove a Corvette-based 365 Daytona replica across television screens and into pop culture folklore. Though it is often referred to as a "Daytona," Ferrari never officially recognized the name, crediting it to the media and fans in response to the 365's 1-2-3 finish at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona.
The Hot Wheels version hits stores in August.
Representing the modern era is the Ferrari SF90 Stradale. A mid-engine plug-in hybrid, it's the first street-going Ferrari to boast an elevated rear wing since the F40 and F50 of the 1980s and '90s. Packing 1016 horsepower from its PHEV powertrain, it launched to 60 mph in just two seconds.
The Hot Wheels Ferrari SF90 Stradale will hit retailers nationwide in June.
Originally intended to race at Le Mans, the Ferrari F-40 Competizione was a much more powerful version of the F40 LM. While we never had the opportunity to pilot one of the eight-to-10 vehicles said to exist, we did have a minute with the "production" F40, and we're still a bit spooked over the experience. Our own Rich Ceppos summed it up thusly: "You can't talk in an F40 in full assault mode—not that you'd want to. You want to look straight ahead—far ahead. The noise is deafening but magic. It growls, it whooshes, it whirs. The twin turbos add a jet-engine whistle. It has 478 horses back there, which feels, each time you poke the accelerator, like someone firing off a 5000-pound Roman candle strapped to the back bumper." Enough said.
The Hot Wheels Ferrari F-40 Competizione will be available at nationwide retailers in July.
Hot Wheels was so excited about the SF90 Stradale that that it created a second version, only this type as a remote-control vehicle. Crafted in the same 1/64 scale as the rest of the collection with full-function controls (forward, reverse, left and right steering), the SF90 Stradale Assetto Fiorano RC works with Hot Wheels tracks and can even complete track loops.
The Hot Wheels SF90 Stradale remote control hits retailers in June with a suggested retail price of $19.99.
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